Log Date: July 25, 2005

Location: On the Way to the Cook Islands

We are on our way to Raratonga in the Cook Islands, about 550 miles.  We had to leave Bora Bora as the French visa was up and it was time to go.

The weather has been good.  Looks like the clouds are moving in for some rain maybe tomorrow.  Should be getting into Raratonga on Wed the 27th we actually took a little detour to miss some of the rain.  Today is a little chilly - I have on a long sleeve shirt and some warm-up pants...first time in long pants for months.

We took a bike trip around Bora Bora.  The island is only 32km around. So it took about 5 hours.  We stopped a number of times to take in the scenic beauty (really to catch our breath) and eat lunch at "Bloody Mary's" (cheeseburgers in paradise).

We climbed a hill they call a mountain but I guess at sea level, 130 meters high is considered a mountain. At the top of the mountain we had a 180-degree scenic view of the harbour, coral reef and town.  It was wonderful to be able to take it all in at the "peak". The hike was straight up for about 15 minutes.  I believe this was a lookout point for the US military when they occupied the island. Supposedly there were gun turrets posted here but they have long since been removed.  I can see why they chose this point - it really gave a half/panoramic view of both air and sea to keep the "enemy" at bay.

We really didn't "see" much infrastructure left from the US military, although they did build most of the roads and airstrip.  I guess when the mere 4500 military men (2 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 2 cargo boas, and 2 troop carriers and one tanker) arrived they had to forge their way through the fauna in order to set up "camp".  There was nothing here, no water and a few natives.

Bora Bora is the "chosen island" and many Europeans travel here on holiday.  Not many Americans.  They have a number of upscale hotels and beautiful sandy beaches with all the toys and entertainment found in any resort area, para-sailing, diving, etc... We tried to avoid all that and did a pretty good job except for the dive boat that anchored near us everyday. We believe the boat was feeding the fish and sharks to draw them - just what I want to do while on vacation - jump in the water with sharks.  We did snorkel off the back of our boat to some nearby coral heads.  The water was clear and azure blue and thank goodness, we didn't see any large mouth friends.

Enjoying Life Onboard.

Laura and Susan

SV Mystic Traveler